Today only - 165-Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panels at Home Depot

[flyinfish]

If anyone is interested in some quality solar panels, they are on sale today only at Home Depot!

These are nice Solar Panels that have a bonded anodized aluminum frame. The panels put out 9.5A @12v and measure 26x56.

I bought four of these panels last year when they were on sale and this is the first sale since. My application was to place on modified cargo trailer.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Nature-...ar-Panel-for-12-Volt-Charging-50162/206345539

 

[BugoutJeep]

What controller and what batteries do you run?

 

[flyinfish]

What controller and what batteries do you run?

The four panels produce a max of 38Amps

I run a 60Amp Morningstar Solar Charge Controller TS-MPPT-60 With LCD screen

Two VMAX SLR155 AGM 12V 155ah Deep Cycle wired in parallel gives me 310Ah. These batteries are beasts and weigh 90lbs each.

I then follow up with a Samlex PST-2000-12 2000 Watt 12 Volt Pure Sine Wave Inverter.

 

[112dB]

I don’t understand this fully but feel like I must buy some and figure out the application later

 

[BugoutJeep]

The four panels produce a max of 38Amps

I run a 60Amp Morningstar Solar Charge Controller TS-MPPT-60 With LCD screen

Two VMAX SLR155 AGM 12V 155ah Deep Cycle wired in parallel gives me 310Ah. These batteries are beasts and weigh 90lbs each.

I then follow up with a Samlex PST-2000-12 2000 Watt 12 Volt Pure Sine Wave Inverter.

I generally hear the heavier the battery, the better. I've heard of Morninstar so should be nice. I'm running AGM in the TJ, but I've been thinking of running L16s or just GC2s I can get at Sams, for aux stuff in my truck. I'm only shooting for a couple hundred AH though at this time.

I like the pure sine stuff, not because I've had problems with modified waves, but I just don't want to fry stuff and regret not having pure sine, though I do think it's probably a bit more rare that something will actually fry from a slightly more dirty wave.

I always suggest that people go with a solid controller, battery and inverter, because skimping seems to cost more in the short and long run. That being said I did some research and was pretty happy RedARC, but my aux battery in my Jeep won't charge and the the battery shows good during the load test and other tests I run.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I just picked up one of these from amazon a couple weeks ago. Mainly to be able to keep my fridge and chest freezer cold if Edison decides to kill our power this summer due to fire danger. Or in case of zombie apocalypse, whichever comes first . It's a modified sine wave but I think it will work fine for my purposes. A plus was that I could use it as a solar charger if I wanted to make a backup battery bank. I think a couple deep cycle batteries and a couple panels would keep me up and running.

I haven't tested my fridge yet but my freezer runs on 200w so it should be able to at least keep that cold with a couple of solar panels and the CA sunshine if I need it. I could always supplement with a vehicle if need be too.

 

[flyinfish]

I generally hear the heavier the battery, the better. I've heard of Morninstar so should be nice. I'm running AGM in the TJ, but I've been thinking of running L16s or just GC2s I can get at Sams, for aux stuff in my truck. I'm only shooting for a couple hundred AH though at this time.

I like the pure sine stuff, not because I've had problems with modified waves, but I just don't want to fry stuff and regret not having pure sine, though I do think it's probably a bit more rare that something will actually fry from a slightly more dirty wave.

I always suggest that people go with a solid controller, battery and inverter, because skimping seems to cost more in the short and long run. That being said I did some research and was pretty happy RedARC, but my aux battery in my Jeep won't charge and the the battery shows good during the load test and other tests I run.

The GC2 is 6v and will require wiring two of them in series to get to 12v for your truck which takes up more space. That's a big battery tray!

 

[flyinfish]

I just picked up one of these from amazon a couple weeks ago. Mainly to be able to keep my fridge and chest freezer cold if Edison decides to kill our power this summer due to fire danger. Or in case of zombie apocalypse, whichever comes first . It's a modified sine wave but I think it will work fine for my purposes. A plus was that I could use it as a solar charger if I wanted to make a backup battery bank. I think a couple deep cycle batteries and a couple panels would keep me up and running.

I haven't tested my fridge yet but my freezer runs on 200w so it should be able to at least keep that cold with a couple of solar panels and the CA sunshine if I need it. I could always supplement with a vehicle if need be too.

View attachment 149897

The one issue with fridge's, freezers and some other devices is the surge amperage on starting is three times or more of what the stated running amperage is.

 

[BugoutJeep]

I think the inverter says 1,200W and surge 2,400W on his unit. Looks like 300w input for solar. Should be sized about right for general purpose stuff. It's at least a nice learning tool.

Yeah I'm probably going with (2) GC2s to stay in 12V, but they're going in the bed of the truck. I also keep saying I'm going to buy them and then walk right past them when I'm at Sam's. I've got some 29DCs around too that I use for my backup sump pump. I run some AGM RRK battery for my AUX battery in the Jeep, but it seems smaller than I prefer, but it doesn't help that I can drive for hours or hook it up to solar and it won't charge the battery anymore, so I've got to talk with Redarc and get this thing fixed.

The Redarc worked great for a month, then it would kinda charge and then it just stopped charging. For the month it worked, I just drove everywhere with my 82qt fridge and always had some cold drinks and food with me. It was nice always having my lunch packed. During work I'd just throw out a folding panel or 2 and keep the battery topped off, which is perfect for the hottest part of the day.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I ran a 900w space heater off of it for a few minutes to test it out when I bought it and it did just fine. Kinda like running the winch though, you need to idle up the motor to get the alternator spinning fast.

I doubt I'll ever get the solar setup for it but it would be kinda fun and it was a plus for the inverter that didn't really add any cost.

 

[scottgraham]

The four panels produce a max of 38Amps

I run a 60Amp Morningstar Solar Charge Controller TS-MPPT-60 With LCD screen

Two VMAX SLR155 AGM 12V 155ah Deep Cycle wired in parallel gives me 310Ah. These batteries are beasts and weigh 90lbs each.

I then follow up with a Samlex PST-2000-12 2000 Watt 12 Volt Pure Sine Wave Inverter.

There's a used/ recon battery joint in Atlanta. My kid just bought (5) 190AH Verizon cel tower batteries for $150 each for his school bus conversion.

 

[BugoutJeep]

There's a used/ recon battery joint in Atlanta. My kid just bought (5) 190AH Verizon cel tower batteries for $150 each for his school bus conversion.

That's cool I'd like to play around with some of those monster batteries. The industrial stuff has crazy long life compared to the automotive/marine stuff. Once the battery systems get bigger, you start seeing 2V batteries and basically they're just independent cells that you change as they're bad or if you want a different voltage.

 

[scottgraham]

He's still learning. Don't know if he's found his solar panels yet. He has his inverter and wired for AC/DC. Hasn't burned the house down yet, so I guess it's good.

 

[BugoutJeep]

I've picked up an assortment of panels to play around with, charge controllers, and inverters, but I keep being too cheap to drop what I need to drop on batteries. Heck even having having batteries plugged into the wall is pretty good as a backup power source.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I've picked up an assortment of panels to play around with, charge controllers, and inverters, but I keep being too cheap to drop what I need to drop on batteries. Heck even having having batteries plugged into the wall is pretty good as a backup power source.

And once you have all that money invested in batteries they become a maintenance problem. Now you have to keep them topped off with distilled water and also replace them as they age. I think that's what's appealing to me about using a vehicle as a temporary power source. Unless the end of times is coming it should get us through most temporary power losses although dealing with a multi day/ week loss of power would likely be more easily handled by a smallish generator.

 

[BugoutJeep]

Well in general, I've got enough vehicles and equipment that maintaining batteries is already something I focus on. If I don't focus on it, I could be replacing 3 or 4 batteries a year and that makes controllers and small good maintainers useful, as well as the distilled water, pourer think, and testing important.